Method of manufacturing a piezoelectric vibrator

ABSTRACT

A piezoelectric vibration element is provided which includes a piezoelectric substrate formed of a thickness slip based piezoelectric material and a metal layer formed on a surface of the piezoelectric substrate. In the piezoelectric vibration element, a surface of the metal layer is covered by a layer formed by chemical absorption with a material having a nonbonding electron pair.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a Division of application Ser. No. 12,155,814 filed Jun. 10,2008, which is a Division of application Ser. No. 11,344,189 filed Feb.1, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,427,823. The disclosures of the priorapplications are hereby incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a piezoelectric vibration elementcapable of effectively preventing, without decreasing the productivity,defects that a resonant frequency of the hermetically encapsulatedpiezoelectric vibration element fixed within an insulating case by asilicone-based conductive adhesive is degraded over time, apiezoelectric vibrator, a piezoelectric oscillator, a frequencystabilization method, and a method of manufacturing the piezoelectricvibrator.

A surface-mounted type piezoelectric device such as a crystal oscillatorhaving a structure that the piezoelectric vibration element ishermetically encapsulated within the insulating case, is used as areference frequency generation source, a filter or the like in anelectronic apparatus like a computer or a communication apparatus like acellular phone, a pager or the like. And miniaturization is alsorequired on the piezoelectric device in response to the miniaturizationof these various apparatuses.

In addition, a piezoelectric oscillator as a surface mountedpiezoelectric device has a piezoelectric vibration element and circuitcomponents constituting an oscillation circuit, which are receivedwithin a concave portion formed on a top surface of an insulating caseformed of ceramic or the like, and an opening of the concave portion isencapsulated by a metal lid.

The piezoelectric vibration element has a structure that metal layersconstituting an exciting electrode and a lead electrode are formed on asurface of a piezoelectric substrate, and the case is hermeticallyencapsulated while the piezoelectric vibration element is held on aninner electrode within the surface mounted type insulating case by meansof a silicone based conductive adhesive (hereinafter, it will bereferred to as a silicone adhesive).

FIG. 4 illustrates a phenomenon that the resonant frequency of thecrystal oscillation element hermetically encapsulated within theinsulating case is decreased, and it can be seen from FIG. 4 that thefrequency decrease does not rapidly occur but gradually occurs overtime.

That is, the tendency of the frequency decrease is hardly found in thephase that the crystal oscillator is manufactured by a piezoelectricdevice maker, however, it surfaces when the piezoelectric device has puton a printed board by an assembly maker and has circulated the market.

In addition, it was confirmed that the tendency of the frequencydecrease becomes severe after a reflow process for loading thepiezoelectric device on the printed board by the assembly maker. Inaddition, in response to miniaturization of the case of the crystaloscillator due to the recent requirement of miniaturization, a frequencyof the occurrence of the frequency decrease actually increases.

Various inferences are drawn about the cause of these phenomena,however, an explicit cause is not found so that the fundamental solutioncannot be obtained, which is the actual circumstance.

For example, a technique for solving the phenomenon of the frequencydecrease of the crystal oscillator over the elapse of years is disclosedin the JP-A-7-154187.

According to this publication, it is understood that the cause of thefrequency decrease of the crystal oscillator over the elapse of yearslies in an oxidation phenomenon occurring on a surface layer of a metallayer constituting an electrode, so that the technique proposesattaching an insulating layer (SiO₂ layer) on the surface layer of themetal layer by a deposition or sputtering method so as to cover anentire surface of the layer or oxidizing, nitridizing, or carburizingthe surface layer of the metal layer in advance to form a protectivelayer.

In addition, this oxidization phenomenon occurs only in a nickel portioneduced up to a surface layer of a gold layer when the nickel base layerwas formed below the gold layer. The gold portion except the nickelportion is stabilized so that it is not oxidized.

However, according to this related art, many problems occur as follows.That is, a strict thickness control is required when a SiO₂ layer isformed to cover a surface of the metal layer by deposition or the like.The SiO₂ layer is apt to be stripped because of its poor adhesivenesswith the gold, and when a thickness of the SiO₂ layer is increased so asto prevent the SiO₂ layer from being striped from the surface of thegold, a residual stress occurs on the vibrator due to the layer stress.That is, a warpage occurs due to a temperature change to cause thetemperature characteristic to be degraded. In addition, when theprotective layer such as an oxide layer, a nitride layer, or a carbidelayer is to be formed on the surface of the gold layer, the layer isformed only in the portion where the nickel is educed as describedabove, however, there exists an individual drift in an area of theportion where the nickel is educed, so that a drift occurs on the addedmass of the protective layer, which thus causes the frequency to beadjusted. The protective layer is not formed in the gold layer portionwhere the nickel is not educed, so that the frequency decreasephenomenon over the elapse of years after encapsulation not solved dueto the cause to be described later in the explanation of embodiments(that is, silicone molecules are gradually and chemically absorbed intothe gold layer portion).

That is, the oxidation of the irregularly educed nickel portion on thesurface of the gold layer is one of the causes of the frequencydecrease, however, it has been found out that the cause is not afundamental cause. Accordingly, the solution proposed by theabove-described publication is not enough.

In addition, in order to slow down the speed of the resonant frequencydecrease after hermetical encapsulation, it might be considered thatsilicone vapor be degassed (so-called annealing) from the insulatingcase prior to the encapsulation, however, the silicone vapor occurs solong as the silicone adhesive is present within the case even when thedegassing was carried out, which gradually attaches to the excitingelectrode layer to cause the frequency change. In addition, it might beconsidered that a kind of the adhesive be changed, however, the siliconeadhesive is very effective in terms of satisfying an impact resistanceproperty, so that an adhesive exceeding the performance of the siliconeadhesive is not present in the actual circumstance.

SUMMARY

An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides acrystal oscillator having a stabilized frequency over the elapse ofyears by understanding the cause of the frequency decrease of thepiezoelectric vibrator over the elapse of years and planning tofundamentally prevent the frequency from decreasing.

Specifically, an advantage of some aspects of the invention is that itprovides a piezoelectric vibration element, a piezoelectric vibrator, apiezoelectric oscillator, and a frequency stabilization method, whichgas components emitted from a conductive bonding member are attached anddeposited on a metal layer of the piezoelectric vibration element in apiezoelectric device having a hermetically encapsulated structure thatthe piezoelectric vibration element is held within an insulating case bythe conductive bonding member to prevent the defect that the resonantfrequency is decreased than a final target frequency over time.

A piezoelectric vibration element according to a first aspect of theinvention includes a piezoelectric substrate formed of a thickness shearbased piezoelectric material, and a metal layer formed on a surface ofthe piezoelectric substrate. In this case, a surface of the metal layeris covered by a layer formed by chemical absorption with a materialhaving a nonbonding electron pair.

A piezoelectric vibration element according to a second aspect of theinvention includes a piezoelectric substrate, and a piezoelectricvibration element having a metal layer formed on a surface of thepiezoelectric substrate. In this case, a surface of the metal layer iscovered by a layer formed by chemical absorption with a material havinga nonbonding electron pair. An almost entire surface of the metal layeris covered by the layer so that a reduced amount of a resonant frequencyis less than 1 ppm even when a layer is further formed on the surface ofthe metal layer that is not covered by the layer.

A piezoelectric vibrator according to a third aspect of the inventionincludes a piezoelectric vibration element according to the firstaspect, and a case in which the piezoelectric vibration element ishermetically encapsulated.

A piezoelectric vibrator according to a fourth aspect of the inventionincludes the piezoelectric vibration element according to the firstaspect, and a case receiving and hermetically encapsulating thepiezoelectric vibration element in an inert gas while supporting thepiezoelectric vibration element by means of a silicone based conductiveadhesive.

A piezoelectric oscillator according to a fifth aspect of the inventionincludes an oscillation circuit component disposed inside or outside thecase according to the third aspect.

A method of stabilizing a frequency of a piezoelectric vibration elementaccording to a sixth aspect of the invention includes disposing thepiezoelectric vibration element in an atmosphere of ring-shapeddimethylpolysiloxane vapor. In this case, the piezoelectric vibrationelement has a metal layer on a surface of a piezoelectric substrateformed of a thickness shear based piezoelectric material. And the methodfurther includes making the ring-shaped dimethylpolysiloxane moleculesubject to chemical absorption with a surface of the metal layer to forma layer of the ring-shaped dimethylpolysiloxane molecule.

A piezoelectric vibrator according to a seventh aspect of the inventionincludes a piezoelectric substrate formed of a thickness shear basedpiezoelectric material and a metal layer on a surface of thepiezoelectric substrate, and a case in which the piezoelectric vibrationelement is held by a conductive bonding member. In this case, a surfaceof the metal layer exposed in an atmosphere is covered by a layer formedby chemical absorption with a material having a nonbonding electronpair.

A piezoelectric vibrator according to an eighth aspect of the inventionincludes a piezoelectric substrate and a metal layer on a surface of thepiezoelectric substrate, and a case in which the piezoelectric vibrationelement is held by a conductive bonding member. In this case, a surfaceof the metal layer exposed in an atmosphere is covered by amonomolecular layer formed by chemical absorption with a material havinga nonbonding electron pair. And an almost entire surface of the metallayer is covered by the monomolecular layer so that a reduced amount ofa resonant frequency is less than 1 ppm even when a monomolecular layeris further formed on the surface of the metal layer that is not coveredby the monomolecular layer.

According to a ninth aspect of the invention, the resonant frequencymeets a target frequency in the air when an area of the entire surfaceof the metal layer occupied by the monomolecular layer corresponds to100% of the entire surface of the metal layer in the piezoelectricvibrator according to the eighth aspect.

A piezoelectric vibrator according to a tenth aspect of the inventionincludes the piezoelectric vibration element according to the firstaspect. In this case, the piezoelectric vibration element ishermetically encapsulated in a case.

A piezoelectric vibrator according to an eleventh aspect of theinvention includes the piezoelectric vibration element according to thefirst aspect. In this case, the piezoelectric vibration element is heldby means of a silicone based conductive adhesive and hermeticallyencapsulated in an inert gas atmosphere.

A piezoelectric oscillator according to a twelfth aspect of theinvention includes an oscillation circuit component disposed inside oroutside the case according to the seventh aspect.

A method of stabilizing a frequency of a piezoelectric vibration elementaccording to a thirteenth aspect of the invention includes disposing thepiezoelectric vibration element in an atmosphere of ring-shapeddimethylpolysiloxane vapor while supporting the piezoelectric vibrationelement in a case. In this case, the piezoelectric vibration element hasa metal layer on a surface of a piezoelectric substrate formed of athickness shear based piezoelectric material. And the method furtherincludes making the ring-shaped dimethylpolysiloxane molecule subject tochemical absorption with a surface of the metal layer exposed in anatmosphere to form a monomolecular layer of the ring-shapeddimethylpolysiloxane molecule.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the invention, the monomolecularlayer covers almost an entire surface of the metal layer so that areduced amount of a resonant frequency is less than 1 ppm even when alayer is further formed on the surface of the metal layer that is notcovered by the monomolecular layer in the method of stabilizing afrequency of a piezoelectric vibration element according to thethirteenth aspect.

A method of stabilizing a frequency of a piezoelectric vibration elementaccording to a fifteenth aspect of the invention includes putting dropsof a ring-shaped dimethylpolysiloxane solution into a case in which thepiezoelectric vibration element having a metal layer formed on a surfaceof a piezoelectric substrate formed of a thickness shear basedpiezoelectric material is held by a silicone adhesive, and encapsulatingthe surface-mounted case. And the method further includes making thering-shaped dimethylpolysiloxane molecule subject to chemical absorptionwith an exposed surface of the metal layer to form a layer of thering-shaped dimethylpolysiloxane molecule.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the invention, the monomolecularlayer covers almost an entire surface of the metal layer so that areduced amount of a resonant frequency is less than 1 ppm even when alayer is further formed on the surface of the metal layer that is notcovered by the monomolecular layer in the method of stabilizing afrequency of a piezoelectric vibration element according to thefifteenth aspect.

A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric vibrator according to aseventeenth aspect of the invention includes supporting a piezoelectricvibration element in a case by means of a conductive bonding member. Inthis case, the piezoelectric vibration element has a metal layer formedon a surface of a piezoelectric substrate formed of a thickness shearbased piezoelectric material. And the method further includes adding orreducing a thickness of the metal layer so as to adjust a resonantfrequency of the piezoelectric vibration element to a predeterminedvalue, leaving the case by which the piezoelectric vibration element isheld into an atmosphere filled with vapor of a material having anonbonding electron pair. In this case, the resultantly exposed metallayer is subject to chemical absorption with the material having thenonbonding electron pair. And the method further includes hermeticallyencapsulating the case in a state substituted by an inert gasatmosphere.

A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric vibrator according to aneighteenth aspect of the invention includes supporting a piezoelectricvibration element in a case by means of a silicone based conductiveadhesive. In this case, the piezoelectric vibration element has a metallayer formed on a surface of a piezoelectric substrate formed of athickness shear based piezoelectric material. And the method furtherincludes adding or reducing a thickness of the metal layer so as toadjust a resonant frequency of the piezoelectric vibration element to apredetermined value, hermetically encapsulating the case in a statesubstituted by an inert gas atmosphere, carrying out heating on thehermetically encapsulated case for a predetermined time, and chemicallyabsorbing a material having a nonbonding electron pair transpirated fromthe silicone adhesive into the metal layer.

A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric vibrator according to anineteenth aspect of the invention includes supporting a piezoelectricvibration element in a case by means of a silicone based conductiveadhesive. In this case, the piezoelectric vibration element has a metallayer formed on a surface of a piezoelectric substrate formed of athickness shear based piezoelectric material. And the method furtherincludes adding or reducing a thickness of the metal layer so as toadjust a resonant frequency of the piezoelectric vibration element to apredetermined value, hermetically encapsulating the case in a statesubstituted by an inert gas atmosphere, leaving the hermeticallyencapsulated case in an atmosphere of temperature K for at least a timeT, and chemically absorbing a resultant material having the nonbondingelectron pair transpirated from the silicone adhesive into the metallayer. In this case, relationship between the temperature K and the timeT meets T=29294e^(−0.0251K).

A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric vibrator according to atwentieth aspect of the invention includes supporting a piezoelectricvibration element in a case by means of a silicone based conductiveadhesive. In this case, the piezoelectric vibration element has a metallayer formed on a surface of a piezoelectric substrate formed of athickness shear based piezoelectric material. And the method furtherincludes adding or reducing a thickness of the metal layer so as toadjust a resonant frequency of the piezoelectric vibration element to apredetermined value, putting a material having a nonbonding electronpair into the case, hermetically encapsulating the case in a statesubstituted by an inert gas atmosphere, carrying out heating on thematerial having the nonbonding electron pair at a temperature requiredto transpirate the material for a predetermined time, and chemicallyabsorbing the material having the nonbonding electron pair into themetal layer.

The silicone based conductive adhesive having a superior impactresistance property is very effective to fix the piezoelectric vibrationelement within the insulating case. And when the silicone vaporcomponent emitted from the silicone based conductive adhesive when theinsulating case is hermetically encapsulated is attached and depositedon the metal layer of the piezoelectric vibration element, the resonantfrequency decreases below the final target frequency over time, whichbecomes the cause of mis-operation of an apparatus on which thepiezoelectric device is loaded. According to the invention, it ispossible to provide the piezoelectric vibration element, thepiezoelectric vibrator, the piezoelectric oscillator, the frequencystabilization method, and the method of manufacturing the piezoelectricvibrator, which may form a layer formed of silicone molecules on a metallayer to saturate the amount of molecular absorption in a very shorttime ranging from several seconds to several minutes by low-costapparatus and method using simple equipment and order, so that thedecrease of the resonant frequency may be stopped to be stabilized, andthe decrease of the productivity may not occur.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements.

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of a quartzoscillator as an example of the surface-mounted type piezoelectricoscillator in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, and FIG.1B is an enlarged view for explaining a main portion of FIG. 1A.

FIGS. 2A to 2D are explanatory views illustrating a manufacture processincluding a process of forming a silicone monomolecular layer on anexciting electrode layer of the crystal oscillation element in theinvention.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are views illustrating relationship between an ambienttemperature and a period until the frequency of the piezoelectricvibration element reaches a stabilized region.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view illustrating a phenomenon that theresonant frequency of the crystal oscillation element hermeticallyencapsulated within the insulating case is degraded.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Prior to explanation of the exemplary embodiments, circumstances leadingto the invention will be first described.

As described above, the frequency of the crystal oscillation elementhermetically encapsulated within the case was continuously decreasedover time in the related art, however, the cause was not revealed.Accordingly, research into the technique for solving such defects hasbeen done in terms of only making the speed of frequency decrease slowdown.

The inventors of the invention have continued to reveal the cause offrequency decrease, and have found for the first time that there existsa stabilized region after the frequency is decreased up to apredetermined value in a test of accelerating the aging (i.e.,acceleration aging test) carried out in the research procedure, and nomore frequency change occurred after the frequency reached the frequencystabilization region. The inventors, based on the discovery, haveoriginated a technique that the frequency of the crystal oscillationelement be decreased in advance before the element is shipped and theelement be shipped after the frequency reaches the stabilization region.

As shown in FIG. 3, a period until the frequency reaches the stabilizedregion decreases as an ambient temperature rises. Accordingly, the causeof the frequency decrease of the conventional piezoelectric device afterheating for reflow was significant was found.

When the heating temperature exceeded 230° C., the silicone adhesivemight be deformed, so that it is preferable to carry out heating at 230°C. or less, and when the heating temperature actually exceeded 230° C.,it was found that the frequency was still decreased below the frequencyeven after the frequency reached the frequency stabilization region asshown in FIG. 3A.

Accordingly, it was confirmed that the crystal oscillator having a lessfrequency change over time could be obtained by carrying out heating onthe piezoelectric device until the frequency reaches the frequencystabilization region at a temperature of 230° C. or less.

According to the technique using the heating, it was confirmed that whenthe crystal oscillator was left at 230° C. for 70 hours, the resonantfrequency reached the frequency stabilization region. However, suchtechnique using the heating causes low production efficiency.

From the result of additional research based on the above-describedresearch results, the inventors of the invention have found that a maincause of the frequency decrease over time was due to the added mass inresponse to the chemical absorption of the silicone molecule into themetal layer of the crystal oscillation element (e.g., the siliconemolecule polymerized with 4 to 7 of a ring-shaped dimethylpolysiloxanemolecule:dimethylpolysiloxane), and the silicone molecule istranspirated from silicone resin constituting a silicone resinconductive adhesive for bonding the crystal oscillation element onto theelectrode within the case. And it is easy to set a concentration of thesilicone molecules to be higher in a closed and smaller space, so thatthe cause of the frequency decrease in response to miniaturization ofthe case of the crystal oscillator was found.

In addition, it was revealed by the inventors of the invention that aphenomenon that a period of reaching the frequency stabilization regionby means of heating is reduced was resulted from the acceleration of thesilicone molecule transpirated from the silicone resin utilizing theheating.

However, the technique utilizing the heating requires a time of 70 hoursat 230 even in the minimum level, so that the production efficiency ispoor.

Accordingly, the inventors of the invention have originated a techniquethat the crystal oscillation received in the case in an opened state beexposed to an atmosphere filled with silicone vapor to fast attach thesilicone molecule on the metal layer.

According to this technique, it was confirmed that the frequency of thecrystal oscillation element reached a frequency stabilization region inseveral seconds, so that it may be a technique capable of implementingmass production.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention illustrated in the drawingswill be described in detail.

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure of the quartzoscillator as an example of the surface mounted type piezoelectricoscillator in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, and FIG.1B is a view illustrating the surface state of the exciting electrodelayer in a molecular level.

The quartz oscillator (piezoelectric oscillator) includes concaveportions 2 and 3 in its upper and lower portions, and includes aninsulating case 1 (e.g., ceramic case) in which the verticalcross-section shape having four mounting terminals 5 on a ring-shapedbottom surface 4 is an approximate H-shape; a metal lid 15 hermeticallyencapsulating the upper concave portion 2 while electrically andmechanically connecting two exciting electrode layers 21 on the crystaloscillation element formed of a thickness shear based piezoelectricmaterial, for example, the crystal oscillation element 12 (piezoelectricvibration element) composed of an AT-cut crystal substrate, to the twoinner pads 11 disposed within the upper concave portion 2 by means of asilicone based conductive adhesive 13 (hereinafter, it will be referredto as a silicone adhesive); a lower pad 6 disposed on a ceiling surface3 a of the lower concave portion 3 and electrically connected to therespective inner pads 11 and the respective mounting terminals 5; and anIC component 25 constituting the oscillation circuit mounted on thelower pad 6.

A mounting terminal on the side of the crystal oscillator among themounting terminals 5 is electrically connected to one side of the innerpad 11.

An upper portion of the insulating case 1 having an upper concaveportion 2, inner pads 11, a crystal oscillation element 12, and a metallid 15 constitutes a crystal oscillator (i.e., piezoelectric vibrator).That is, the crystal oscillation element 12 is electrically andmechanically connected to the inner electrode 11 within the upperconcave portion 2 of the insulating case 1 formed of an insulatingmaterial like ceramic by means of a silicone adhesive 13, and the metallid 15 is electrically and mechanically connected to a conductive ringof the upper surface of the outer wall of the insulating case 1 by meansof welding or the like to hermetically encapsulate the concave portion2, thereby obtaining the crystal oscillator. The crystal oscillationelement 12 has an exciting electrode layer 21 (metal layer) formed of ametal material like gold on inside and outside surfaces of the crystalsubstrate 20 (piezoelectric substrate) as the thickness shear basedpiezoelectric material, and a lead electrode 22 extended to thesubstrate edge from the exciting electrode layer 21.

As described above, the cause of the phenomenon that the frequency isdegraded over time after the crystal oscillation element is hermeticallyencapsulated within the case has been implicit, however, according toresearches of the present inventors, it is inferred that siliconemolecules in the ring-shaped dimethylpolysiloxane vapor (hereinafter,referred to as silicone vapor) generated from the silicone adhesive 13and filled within the case are gradually and chemically absorbed into asurface of the exciting electrode layer.

That is, the silicone adhesive 13 is a conductive adhesive that a silverfiller is mixed with a silicone resin, and emits silicone vapor from thesilicone resin by heating at the time of mounting the quartz oscillatoron a motherboard by reflow or by heating at the time of mounting the ICcomponent 25 on a flip chip in the room temperature. The emittedsilicone vapor is diffused into the insulating case 1 encapsulated bythe lid 15 as described above. The silicone molecule 30 having thenonbonding electron pair has a property that is apt to be chemicallyabsorbed with a surface of the metal constituting the exciting electrodelayer 21 (metal layer), and when the silicone molecular layer isabsorbed to the surface of the exciting electrode layer by apredetermined amount or more, a defect occurs that the oscillationfrequency of the quartz oscillator as a completed product is degradedover time. Such defect becomes severe in the current state that theinsulating case is micro-miniaturized to cause its inner volume to beextremely minimized.

According to the first embodiment of the invention for coping with suchdefects, there is provided a method of stabilizing the frequency inadvance by means of heating before getting a piezoelectric device on themarket. That is, according to this method, the piezoelectric device issubject to heating for 70 hours or more at a temperature lower than asilicone pyrolysis temperature, for example, at 230° C. amongtemperatures higher than the room temperature, preferably amongtemperatures exceeding the boiling point of the silicone molecule (e.g.,188° C. at D3) while encapsulating the piezoelectric device, so thatsilicone vapor may be positively emitted from the silicone adhesivewithin the hermetically encapsulated insulating case, which thus allowsthe amount of absorbing the silicone molecule into the surface of theexciting electrode layer in a unit time to be increased by increasingthe concentration of the silicone vapor for a short time as compared toa case of natural aging. As a result, the time required for reaching thefrequency stabilization region (state) may be significantly reduced toreduce the time up to the shipment, thereby capable of enhancing thetotal productivity.

That is, according to the first embodiment, a process of supporting thecrystal oscillation element 12 (i.e., piezoelectric vibration element)within the case 12 by means of the silicone adhesive 13 (i.e.,conductive bonding member), the crystal oscillation element having theexciting electrode layer 21 as a metal layer (i.e., the layer havinggold on a surface of the base layer such as nickel or chrome) formed onthe surface of the piezoelectric substrate formed of a thickness shearbased piezoelectric material such as a crystal substrate 20 or the like,a process of adding or reducing the thickness of the exciting electrodelayer 21 so as to adjust the resonant frequency of the crystaloscillation element 12 to a predetermined value (i.e., a value higherthan the resonant frequency of the crystal oscillation element at thetime of manufacture completion), a process of hermetically encapsulatingthe case 1 in the state substituted by the inert gas atmosphere, and aprocess of heating the hermetically encapsulated case 1 for apredetermined time to chemically absorb the material having thenonbonding electron pair (i.e., silicone molecule) transpirated from thesilicone adhesive into the exciting electrode layer, are sequentiallycarried out.

FIG. 3A illustrates relationship between differences of heatingtemperature and characteristics of varying resonant frequencies in thecrystal oscillation element having the resonant frequency of 26 MHz.FIG. 3B illustrates results of the measured time until the resonantfrequency of the crystal oscillation element reaches almost a uniformvalue (i.e., the resonant frequency having the reduced amount of about−4 ppm from the start of the heating) during the heating. FIG. 3Cillustrates an approximation line representing the relationship betweenthe heating temperature and the heating time by plotting the measuredresults of FIG. 3B.

As shown in FIG. 3A, when the heating temperature was not more than 230°C., the resonant frequency was decreased right after the heating wascommenced, however, when a specific time was passed, it was seen thatthe reduced amount of the resonant frequency was decreased and theresonant frequency was stabilized.

In addition, when the heating temperature is not more than 230° C., thereduced amount of frequency until the frequency becomes stabilized isuniform regardless of the heating temperature, and the reduced amount offrequency until the frequency stabilization was, for example, about −4ppm in a case of the resonant frequency of 26 MHz.

When the heating temperature is higher than 230° C., for example, whenit is 250° C., 270° C., or 300° C., a rapid frequency decrease occurredafter the heating is commenced in all of the cases, so that thefrequency was not stabilized after the same amount of frequency wasdecreased.

Accordingly, it can be seen that a heating time required for reachingthe frequency stabilization is present after the frequency decreases bya specific frequency when the crystal oscillation element is heatedbased on the result at a temperature not more than 230° C.

Accordingly, values indicated in FIG. 3B could be obtained by measuringthe time required for the resonant frequency to be stabilized (i.e., thestate that the frequency is decreased by −4 ppm after the heating iscommenced) in each condition of the heating temperature.

In addition, the relationship between the heating temperature and thetime required for reaching the frequency stabilization was illustratedas an approximation line in FIG. 3C based on numeral data indicated inFIG. 3B.

It was seen that that the time T required for reaching the frequencystabilization in the relationship with the heating temperature K fromthe approximation line is 24294e^(−0.0251K).

That is, according to the heating method of the absorption process, thematerial having the nonbonding electron pair transpirated from thesilicone based conductive adhesive (i.e., conductive bonding member) 13by leaving the hermetically encapsulated case 1 in an atmosphere havinga temperature of K for a time T is preferably subject to chemicalabsorption with the exciting electrode layer 20 (i.e., metal layer) tomeet the relationship between the temperature K and the time T such asT=24294e^(−0.0251K) (25° C.<K≦230° C.).

Next, according to a second embodiment of the invention, a technique ofaccelerating the silicone molecular absorption is provided instead ofheating, which makes the frequency of the crystal oscillation elementreach the frequency stabilization region for a short time.

That is, in the present embodiment, the monomolecular layer 30 of thesilicone molecule is formed in advance to cover the entire surface ofthe exciting electrode layer 21 by exposing the exciting electrode layer21 to an atmosphere of the silicone vapor prepared in advance beforeencapsulating the insulating case 1. According to this structure, a longterm heating process for making the concave portion 2 of the insulatingcase 1 subject to the atmosphere of silicone vapor, which has beenrequired in the first embodiment, is not necessary, so that the resonantfrequency of the crystal oscillation element may be reduced to apredetermined target value (target frequency) at one time from the setvalue at the time of frequency adjustment stroke to be stabilized. Inaddition, the predetermined target frequency is a resonant frequency ofthe crystal oscillation element 12 right before the encapsulation withthe metal lid 15 (i.e., the state that the frequency adjustment due tothe mass addition is completed), and is almost equal to the resonantfrequency in the hermetically encapsulated state in an inert gasatmosphere within the insulating case when the resonant frequency ismeasured in the air, however, has a value higher than the targetfrequency in the air by several ppm as is known in the vacuumencapsulated state.

In addition, the target frequency is a resonant frequency in a statethat no material effecting mass addition except the siliconemonomolecular layer 30 is attached on the surface of the excitingelectrode layer 21, that is, a state that no other material is depositedon the silicone monomolecular layer 30.

That is, atoms of the metal material including gold has a dangling bondand is apt to be chemically absorbed with the material having thenonbonding electron pair, so that the dangling bond of all metal atoms21 disposed on a surface of the exciting electrode is absorbed with thenonbonding electron pair of the silicone molecule 30 in a very shorttime (several seconds) (i.e., the state is seen in FIG. 1B) as long asthe surface of the exciting electrode layer is exposed for a short timeto an atmosphere in which the silicone vapor concentration is higherthan a predetermined value or more, whereby the resultant monomolecularlayer 30 is formed on an entire surface of the exciting electrode layerin a short time. Since the number of the dangling bond on the surface ofthe lead electrode and the surface of the exciting electrode is limitedand the silicone molecule forming the monomolecular layer 30 of siliconeformed on the entire surface of the exciting electrode layer by thechemical absorption does not have an absorption means (i.e., electronpair), the silicone molecule does not overlap the monomolecular layer 30to be chemically absorbed, and the number of the attachable siliconemolecules (thickness and mass of the monomolecular layer) is determinedin terms of the fact that a new silicone layer is not formed, so thatthe resonant frequency is not decreased due to the chemical absorptionafter the entire surface of the exciting electrode is covered with thesilicone molecule. In addition, since the monomolecular layer 30 has athickness corresponding to one silicone molecule as shown in FIG. 1B,the thickness needs not to be controlled. As such, the thickness of themonomolecular layer 30 may be determined in advance, so that the reducedamount of the resonant frequency of the crystal oscillation element dueto the monomolecular layer 30 may be correctly predicted or calculated,and the frequency may be set to be higher than the target frequency inadvance when the frequency needs to be adjusted so that the resonantfrequency at the time that the monomolecular layer 30 is formed becomesthe target frequency. Accordingly, the crystal oscillator having thestabilized frequency, and the quartz oscillator may be manufactured witha good yield. Meanwhile, the crystal material forming the crystalsubstrate is a crystalline structure of SiO₂ that does not have thedangling bond, so that the silicone molecule cannot be chemicallyabsorbed with a surface of the crystal substrate.

FIG. 2 is s schematic view illustrating a manufacture process includinga process of forming the silicone monomolecular layer on the excitingelectrode layer of the crystal oscillation element in the invention.

In the process of processing the crystal substrate wafer (FIG. 2A),electrode formation is carried out on each piece region 36 on thecrystal wafer 35 of large area by means of etching, deposition or thelike of the photolithography technique to form each piece of the crystaloscillation element while a frequency adjustment process (i.e., theprocess of adding or reducing the thickness of the exciting electrodelayer) is carried out to set the resonant frequency of each piece to behigher than the target frequency by a predetermined frequency. Thepredetermined frequency higher than the target frequency is a finaltarget frequency, and is a frequency in a state in which the insulatingcase filled with an inert gas is hermetically encapsulated by the lidafter the remaining silicone component attached on the siliconemonomolecular layer (i.e., silicone component that is not chemicallyabsorbed) is removed after the monomolecular layer is formed on anentire surface of the exciting electrode layer within the chamber andthen opened to the air, which will be described later.

A piezoelectric material used as the substrate material is not limitedto quartz when it is the thickness shear based piezoelectric material ofwhich the frequency is determined by the thickness difference. Anelectrode material used for the exciting electrode may employ gold,aluminum or the like, however, any metal may be employed when the metalis capable of being chemically absorbed with the silicone vapor.

In the process of dividing into each piece (FIG. 2B), the crystal waferis divided by dicing, etching, or the like along the boundary of eachpiece region.

In the next process (FIG. 2C) (i.e., supporting process), the dividedcrystal oscillation element 12 is connected onto the internal electrode11 within an upper concave portion 2 of the insulating case 1 by asilicone adhesive 13 (i.e., conductive bonding member).

In the next process of forming the silicone monomolecular layer (i.e.,absorption process; FIG. 2D), the insulating case 1 supporting thecrystal oscillation element 12 inside is disposed within the chamber 40filled with silicone vapor (i.e., vapor of the material having thenonbonding electron pair) as shown in FIG. 2D, and the silicone moleculeis chemically absorbed to the surface of the exciting electrode layer21, thereby forming a monomolecular layer having a uniform thickness.Accordingly, the silicone monomolecular layer 30 having the uniformthickness is formed on en entire surface of the exciting electrodelayer.

A high volatile material having a low molecular amount (a degree ofpolymerization n of [(CH₃)₂SiO]_(n):D_(n) is 4 to 7) is preferablyemployed as the silicone. In addition, the silicone is apt to bevolatile at room temperature, however, in a case of the silicone havingthe degree of polymerization D5, its boiling point is 211° C., so thatthe silicone vapor [CH₅]₂SiO]₅ with a desired concentration may befilled within the chamber in a short time by heating the undilutedsolution of silicone 41 within the chamber 40 to the boiling point orany temperature not higher than the boiling point, and when theconcentration (ppm) is increased, the time for forming the monomolecularlayer (i.e., the time required for saturation) may be decreased. Thetemperature within the chamber may be a room temperature, or may beincreased so as to safely keep the silicone vapor state.

Each metal atom constituting a surface layer of the exciting electrodelayer 21 and a surface layer of the lead electrode 22 has a danglingbond. The nonbonding electron pair on the side of the silicone moleculeis hung and chemically absorbed to the dangling bond, so that theexciting electrode layer 21 and the stabilized monomolecular layer 30that is not easily separated from the lead electrode 22 may be obtained.In a state that all dangling bonds are absorbed with the siliconemolecule, the silicone molecule is not chemically absorbed any more,however, in a state that a concentration of the silicone molecule withinthe chamber is high, the silicone molecule floating in the chamber isattached to and deposited on (physically attached to) the siliconemonomolecular layer 30, so that the frequency in a case that othersilicone components are deposited on the silicone monomolecular layer isaffected by the mass addition of the physical attachment and is loweredas compared to the frequency in a case that only the siliconemonomolecular layer 30 is chemically absorbed on the exciting electrode.Accordingly, when only the silicone component deposited by the physicalattachment is dispersed (i.e., evaporated) to be removed by opening thesilicone monomolecular layer to the air (in dry gas) outside the chamberafter the formation of the silicone monomolecular layer, the thicknessof the silicone monomolecular layer 30 needs not to be accuratelymanaged at the time of forming the silicone monomolecular layer 30, sothat the silicone monomolecular layer 30 having a desired thickness maybe easily configured while a desired target frequency may be easilyobtained. In this case, the target frequency becomes the final targetfrequency as it is when the layer is filled with the inert gas withinthe insulating case because the target frequency is a resonant frequencyin the air, however, when the layer is encapsulated in a vacuum state,it is possible to meet the frequency of the vacuum encapsulation withthe final target frequency by setting the resonant frequency in the airto the target frequency offset by the reduced amount due to the vacuumencapsulation.

When a layer is formed by a physical absorption technique such asdeposition or sputter only for increasing the mass of the excitingelectrode, it is difficult to form it as a monomolecular layer (i.e., asingle layer) so that it is apt to have multiple layers, which causes itdifficult to strictly manage the thickness, however, the siliconemonomolecular layer has the uniform thickness almost same as thethickness of the monomolecule, so that the layer thickness or layerformation time needs not to be strictly monitored nor measured. Bysetting the thickness of a vibration unit of the crystal substrate to apredetermined value in advance, that is, by setting the thickness of thevibration unit of the crystal substrate so as to obtain the targetresonant frequency after adding the area (mass) of the excitingelectrode to be formed in the vibration unit and the reduced amount offrequency due to the mass of the silicone monomolecular layer absorbedon the entire surface of the area, the frequency accuracy may be readilysecured.

That is, the thickness of (i.e., a magnitude of the monomolecule) thesilicone monomolecular layer 30 is about 1.3 nm when a degree ofpolymerization of the silicone is D4. As such, in case of themonomolecular layer, its thickness and the reduced amount of thefrequency may be accurately predicted, so that the resonant frequencyprior to the formation of the silicone monomolecular layer is set to behigh to some extents, which thus facilitates setting the frequency tothe target frequency after the formation of the silicone monomolecularlayer. For example, a result may be obtained that the resonant frequency(e.g., 26 MHz) at the time that the silicone monomolecular layer 30 isformed on an entire surface of the exciting electrode layer is low by 5ppm as compared to the resonant frequency prior to the formation of thesilicone monomolecular layer, and the uniform frequency reductionbetween media occurs with respect to the crystal oscillation elementhaving the same dimensional structure with the same resonant frequency,so that the fine adjustment of the frequency becomes very facilitated.

It can be seen by the acceleration aging test for a long period that,after the monomolecular layer is formed to stabilize the frequency, 1ppm is changed, for example, in 50 years and another 1 ppm is changed inabout 500 years. As such, the state after saturation is stabilized, sothat there occurs no problems in the reliability test and temperaturecycle.

When the silicone monomolecular layer is formed on the excitingelectrode of the crystal oscillation element in the process of formingthe silicone monomolecular layer, a concentration of the silicone vaporis set to a predetermined value or higher, so that the siliconemonomolecular layer is formed on the entire surface of the excitingelectrode after several seconds, which thus allows the area occupied bythe monomolecular layer on the entire surface of the exciting electrodeto be a maximum area corresponding to 100% of the entire surface of theexciting electrode.

When the resonant frequency capable of being obtained by forming asilicone monomolecular layer having an occupancy of a range that doesnot reach the maximum area (100%) (i.e., the resonant frequency of thecrystal oscillation element in the state that the exciting electrode isnot partially covered by the silicone monomolecular layer) is higherthan the resonant frequency of the piezoelectric vibration elementhaving the maximum area (i.e., the exciting electrode is fully coveredby the monomolecular layer) within a range of +1 ppm to 0 ppm, even whenthe occupied area of the silicone monomolecular layer on the entiresurface of the exciting electrode is less than 100%, the resonantfrequency is then allowable within the range of ±1 ppm (i.e., thegeneral drift range capable of compensating the operation) of the targetfrequency for 50 years (by the acceleration aging test) even when theresonant frequency is reduced, so that there occurs no problems in theoperation of the apparatus having the built-in crystal oscillator untilthe apparatus reaches its lifetime. That is, almost an entire surface ofthe exciting electrode layer is preferably covered by the monomolecularlayer so that the reduced amount of the resonant frequency is less than1 ppm even when a layer is further formed on the surface of the excitingelectrode layer that is not covered by the silicone monomolecular layer30.

In addition, in the process (FIG. 2D) of forming the siliconemonomolecular layer, the silicone monomolecular layer is formed withinthe chamber 40, which is then opened to the air and dried, so that thesilicone component attached on the monomolecular layer is dispersed tobe removed.

In the final encapsulation process, the opening is encapsulated by thelid in the state that the inert gas such as nitrogen is filled withinthe insulating case, which is shown in FIG. 1A.

Each process shown in FIG. 2 may be configured to be carried out inresponse to a series of manufacture lines, so that the manufactureapparatus and method having a high productivity may be implemented.

In the manufacture apparatus or method shown in FIG. 2D, thepiezoelectric vibration element 12 having the exciting electrode layer21 (metal layer) on the surface of the crystal substrate 20 formed ofthe thickness shear piezoelectric material is disposed in the chamber 40in a high concentration atmosphere of the silicone vapor (ring-shapeddimethylpolysiloxane vapor), and the silicone molecule is chemicallyabsorbed into the surface of the exciting electrode layer to form themonomolecular layer 30 of the silicone molecule, which is, however, onlyan example, and other apparatus configuration and method may be appliedfor forming the monomolecular layer. For example, a very small amount ofundiluted solution of silicone may be dropped into the insulating case 1in which the piezoelectric vibration element 12 having the excitingelectrode layer 21 on the surface of the piezoelectric substrate 20formed of the thickness shear based piezoelectric material is held bythe silicone adhesive so that the insulating case is encapsulated, whichmay be heated to a temperature suitable for transpirating the undilutedsolution of silicone, if necessary, so as to chemically absorb thesilicone molecule into the surface of the exciting electrode layer sothat the monomolecular layer of the silicone molecule may be formed.

That is, the manufacture method according to the present embodimentincludes supporting the crystal oscillation element 12 (i.e., apiezoelectric vibration element) in the case 1 by means of the siliconebased conductive adhesive 13 (i.e., a conductive bonding member), thecrystal oscillation element having the exciting electrode layer 21 as ametal layer on the surface of the crystal substrate 20 as thepiezoelectric substrate formed of a thickness shear based piezoelectricmaterial; adding or reducing the thickness of the exciting electrodelayer 21 so as to adjust the resonant frequency of the piezoelectricvibration element 12 to a predetermined value; putting the materialhaving the nonbonding electron pair into the case 1; hermeticallyencapsulating the case 1 in a state substituted by the inert gasatmosphere; and heating the material having the nonbonding electron pairat a temperature required to transpirate the material, and chemicallyabsorbing the material into the exciting electrode layer 21.

In this case, an area occupied by the monomolecular layer on the entiresurface of the metal layer is not necessarily the maximum area (i.e.,100%), and when an amount of the resonant frequency of the piezoelectricvibration element having the maximum area is reduced by 1 ppm (i.e., anallowable range of the unit) within an allowable range, there is noproblems in the unit within the allowable range even when the areaoccupied by the silicone monomolecular layer on the entire surface ofthe exciting electrode is less than 100%. That is, almost an entiresurface of the exciting electrode layer is preferably covered by themonomolecular layer so that the reduced amount of the resonant frequencyis less than 1 ppm even when a layer is further formed on the surface ofthe exciting electrode layer that is not covered by the siliconemonomolecular layer 30.

In addition, a material to be chemically absorbed into the excitingelectrode to form the monomolecular layer is not limited to the siliconebut may be any material having a nonbonding electron pair. Accordingly,the conductive bonding member for supporting the piezoelectric vibrationelement in the case in each of the embodiments described above is notlimited to the silicone adhesive but may also be any adhesive forgenerating the material having a nonbonding electron pair.

1. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric vibrator, comprising:supporting a piezoelectric vibration element in a case by means of aconductive bonding member, the piezoelectric vibration element having ametal layer formed on a surface of a piezoelectric substrate formed of athickness shear based piezoelectric material; adding or reducing athickness of the metal layer so as to adjust a resonant frequency of thepiezoelectric vibration element to a predetermined value; leaving thecase by which the piezoelectric vibration element is held into anatmosphere filled with vapor of a material having a nonbonding electronpair, and making the resultantly exposed metal layer subject to chemicalabsorption with the material having the nonbonding electron pair; andhermetically encapsulating the case in a state substituted by an inertgas atmosphere.